(CNN)Seven people, including two children, died in a tornado near Des Moines, Iowa, Saturday, officials said.
The two children who died were under the age of five, Madison County Emergency Management Director Diogenes Ayala said.“This is, I think, the worst anyone has seen in quite a long time,” Ayala said.The tornado, which ripped through multiple counties near Des Moines, also left one adult with life-threatening injuries and three others hospitalized in serious condition, Ayala said.The National Weather Service office in Des Moines said an initial estimate shows it was an EF3 tornado, with wind speeds of at least 136 miles per hour.“This is a widespread storm,” Ayala said. He estimated there was serious damage to more than two dozen homes.A person in a rural area near the Lucas County city of Chariton was also killed, and multiple people were injured, according to Mike Lamb, Emergency Management Coordinator for Lucas, Appanoose, Davis and Monroe Counties.The tornado caused damage to several homes, buildings, power lines and vegetation, Lamb said in Sunday morning’s release.Two people were injured in Polk County, the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post.The NWS in Des Moines had earlier warned a “large and extremely dangerous storm” was moving toward Pleasant Hill, a city about 5 miles east of Des Moines, and people should seek shelter immediately.The severe weather caused “damage to several homes, power lines, and trees,” the sheriff’s office said. First responders were in the area conducting a damage assessment and helping residents.
